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Recipe

Macadamia Nut Fudge

current situation: macadamia nut fudge for the bruvs

Poured onto parchment rather than pressed into a tin, which is why it looks like a slab of something geological. It is also easier.

Fudge goes wrong in exactly one way: crystals. Grainy fudge is sugar that recrystallised because something disturbed it at the wrong moment. The rules are therefore all negative — do not stir it once it boils, do not scrape the sides of the pan, and do not touch it again until it has cooled to 110°F.

That last one is the hard one. Everybody beats it hot, and everybody gets sand.

Makes
About 2 lb
Hands-on
30 minutes
Target
236°F, soft ball
Beat at
110°F, not before

Half an hour of work, an hour of cooling before beating, and a couple of hours to set.

Macadamia fudge setting under a glass Christmas tree
Shot the night it was made. Open the picture for the full photograph.

What you need

The fudge

  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup corn syrup — it prevents crystals
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 stick butter, cut up, added at the END
  • 2 tsp vanilla

And

  • 2 cups whole macadamia nuts, lightly toasted
  • A reliable thermometer — this is not a recipe to guess at
  • Flaky salt, for the top

How it goes

  1. 1 — Wash down the sides of the pan early

    A pastry brush dipped in water, run round the inside above the liquid line, before it boils. One stray sugar crystal on the side can seed the whole batch.

  2. 2 — Stir only until it boils, then stop entirely

    Sugar, milk, cream, cocoa, corn syrup and salt stirred until dissolved and boiling. From that moment the spoon comes out and stays out.

  3. 3 — 236°F, the soft ball stage

    Thermometer in, not touching the bottom. It will sit around 220°F for a long time and then climb fast. Watch it from 230°F.

  4. 4 — Butter and vanilla ON TOP, not stirred in

    Off the heat, butter and vanilla dropped onto the surface and left there. Stirring now, while it is hot, is the classic way to produce grainy fudge.

  5. 5 — Cool undisturbed to 110°F — do not move the pan

    About an hour. No stirring, no shaking, no checking by poking it. This is the step that separates smooth fudge from sandy fudge and it requires nothing but leaving the room.

    pro tip — 110°F is just warm to the back of your hand. If you are impatient, sit the pan in cool water — but still do not stir it.

  6. 6 — Then beat it hard until it loses its shine

    Wooden spoon, two to four minutes of real effort. It goes from glossy and fluid to matt and thick, and you will feel the moment it turns.

  7. 7 — Macadamias in, then pour it out onto parchment

    Whole nuts folded through fast and the whole lot tipped onto a parchment-lined tray, pushed roughly into a slab. It sets within a minute of turning, so there is no time for neatness.

  8. 8 — Flaky salt over, set two hours, cut with a hot knife

    Salt while the surface is still tacky. Two hours at room temperature, then cut into pieces with a hot dry knife.

What to drink with it

You cannot go wrong with Veuve and mac nut fudge. That is not a suggestion, that is the instruction.

  • Whiskey Milk PunchIf there is no champagne open, this. Both of them are December drinks and this fudge is a December thing.

For the bruvs. Make a double batch; this is not a sharing-sized recipe as written. LFG.

More of what comes out of this kitchen on the food wall.

Every picture on this page is one of mine. I paint for a living the rest of the time — that is the gallery, and the originals are for sale.